Buckle Of Time
by PerennialOutlander
Summary: ABANDONED-see profile.Sam is thrust into the year 2011 after she makes a decision that results in her last mission at WOOHP.Sam has to figure out how things have changed so drastically and set them right.But is it all that bad,really? 3 up
1. Things Change

Buckle of Time

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Summary

Sam makes a life-changing decision that results in her last mission at WOOHP. With this last mission, an accident happens causing Sam to wake up ten years in the future and suddenly: Sam's in bed with WHO? Clover's doing WHAT at WOOHP? Alex is WHERE? Sam has to figure out how things have changed so drastically and set them right…hopefully before this future becomes permanently her own! But is it all that bad?

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Disclaimer: I don't own!

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Author's note: I don't know any of the main character's surnames, so I'm just making them up.

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Chapter 1: Things Change…

**08:15AM, 2001, BEVERLY HILLS HIGH**

She had just made it to homeroom. Alex and Clover waved to her from their seats but remained seated. That could only mean one thing. _Substitute teacher,_ she thought. She looked back at the teacher's desk and sure enough, there was a grandfatherly-type man, maybe in his fifties, trying his best to calm down the more raucous lot of the class. She sighed a small sigh of relief. She didn't want to talk to her friends yet.

She sat herself down at her desk and discreetly pulled out an already opened envelope. Pulling out the slip of paper, she scanned it for the tenth time that morning. She couldn't believe that they had actually replied. She had done it for her mom because of her insistent nagging, but she had never believed she would get in._ an application from NYC Gifted High isn't something that I should consider, is it?_ She thought to herself. NYC Gifted High was a private school situated in New York, catering to the many brainy, often genius, students from all around the world. Her mother had wanted her to go there instead of Beverly Hills High, but Sam had wanted to go to a normal school where she could easily start over. She winced at her elementary school memories before she had met Clover and Alex. Because of her high IQ she had been labelled a geek, a nerd, a brain, a **freak**. Getting into Beverly High was something of a small accomplishment for her and a big boost in her self esteem.

But now she wasn't so sure. Being a spy and then a high school student were all well and good, but they didn't have the intellectual appeal they used to anymore. True, she was in eleventh grade and only had a year and a half to still go before she went to college, so going would be a little late, but since she had only applied the beginning of that semester, it was like some small miracle she had been accepted so soon.

She groaned inwardly. She didn't know who to talk to that would think about her instead of themselves. Her mom would encourage her to go for herself, but secretly she knew that her mother was yearning for her daughter to be something more than a Beverly Hills High student. If she talked with her friends they would talk about how their friendship would be broken. It hit her. She could talk to Jerry. Maybe it was a little unorthodox, but he was more mature about the girls' decisions and lives, like when Alex had threatened to quit. He would think about how she would feel. She folded the letter back into its envelope and then slipped it back in her bag. It was settled. She would call him before first period Geography, a subject she had separate from Clover and Alex. _Everything is just a blur in my mind!_ She yelled to herself. She began massaging her temples, slowly and clockwise. This headache would soon be over.

* * *

"Sam, I don't know what to say to you. This is your decision, your life. From my side, if you do choose to go, we at WOOHP would feel your absence. But this is your life, as I said before. Don't make another person choose for you." Jerry ended his transmission and Sam snapped it closed irritably. She wasn't necessarily angry at Jerry: she was angry at him for voicing the truth that was whispering in her ear. She wanted to go, desperately even, but she was tied down on this side too, with her friends, family, familiarity. She stuffed her compact into her bag, then checked outside the empty classroom for any stray student that could perhaps have been listening. Satisfied, she began walking to her Geography class. 

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't watch where she was going and walked straight into another girl who had just finished unpacking her locker, books in her arms. Startled, she dropped her books. With a whispered curse, she bent to retrieve them. Sam dropped next to her and began to help.

"I'm really, really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going," Sam apologized, handing a thick file to the girl. The girl took it from her hand and just sighed.

"Not your fault, no one ever sees me when they're walking," she said softly. Sam looked up at the girl and felt a shock run through the base of her spine, but she didn't know the cause why. The girl had spunky brunette hair cut short like a surfers', running every which way with no help from hair gel. She had dark grey eyes that emphasized an eagle-like glare which was even more outlined by black eyeliner. She wore two necklaces, one with an ankh and the other with an unfamiliar character. She had on a black top, black military pants that reached over her sneakers and still over all that a black coat that reached above her ankles. With all her books finally collected in her arms, she and Sam finally stood up. She began shoving the books into her shoulder bag when she noticed that Sam still stood in front of her.

"Yeah? What d'ya want?" she asked harshly. Sam swallowed. The tingling was still present in her spine and was spreading into her other nerves.

"Maybe, a name?" The girl stared at her for a moment.

"Danny." She closed her bag and walked away. "And I know your name's Sam," she called over her shoulder. She disappeared around the corner, leaving Sam staring after her, alone in the corridor. That's when Sam was sucked through one of WOOHP's many tunnels.

**08:45 AM, 2001, WOOHP HEADQUARTERS**

She landed with a head-banging thump, bouncing off the cushioned trapdoor onto the floor. She heard two more bodily bumps and squeals of pain as the other two landed on other trapdoors. One of the things she hadn't perfected yet was her landings, and that ignorance hurt like hell.

"Good morning girls," Jerry said cheerfully. He promptly ignored the death-glare that Clover sent him and turned toward the screen, where a picture of a man in his late thirties popped up. He had unruly, long brown hair and a bitter expression on his face that was further hidden by a pair of octagonal spectacles. He wore a classy Armani suit in pinstripe grey that made him even more imposing.

"We have a new villain on the loose, by the name of Fredrick Allan. Don't suppose either of you girls know who he is?" Alex and Clover vigorously shook their heads no, but as Sam shook hers, uncertainty crept up her spine._ That face, it's so familiar…_

"He's one of the science professors at Cambridge University in Europe, his research tending towards the theory of time travel. He has managed to achieve the improbable, and devised the necessary equations to jump through the past and the future, and our sources inform us that he's planning to launch his first test jump this afternoon. The only problem being that we have no idea where the launch site is, so you lot have two parts to the mission: find and retrieve him and his work before he decides to rewrite history with his ancestors in power. Understood?" an audible gulp came from Alex's side. They nodded.

While Jerry listed their gadgets for the mission, Sam listened with half an ear, having retreated inside herself to think. Today had been too strange, stranger than usual by WOOHP'S standards. First, their was her acceptance to NYC, then that strange meeting with Danny, and now their newest villain who she couldn't help but think she knew somehow…

Unusual for Jerry, he allowed them time to change at WOOHP headquarters instead of sending them off immediately. Sam only saw the reason for this when he gently grabbed her arm when she exited from the changing room, and led her to a more secluded corner.

"So Sam, have you decided whether or not you want to go?" he asked her in a fatherly manner. She looked down, fidgeting slightly.

"I don't know yet. I want to stay, but I also…" she trailed off. Jerry's eyes crinkled in a worried manner.

"Samantha," she looked up at that, "I want you to understand that there is nothing holding you back here. Look, I'm not saying that Clover and Alex aren't important; what I'm trying to say is that if you truly believe that this will make you happy, that this will make you more _you_, then you should go for it. Life isn't about holding back what you have, you understand?" he finished saying. She nodded slowly, feeling small. It was awkward being talked to like a fellow adult. He smiled at her and she noted the worry in his eyes as she walked over to KIRTT.

**12:48 PM, 2001, SOMEWHERE OVER THE GRAND CANYON**

"Ok, that's it, he's gotta be here or else I'm going home!" Clover growled out of the corner of her mouth. Alex and Sam looked at each-other, stifling giggles behind their hands. True, they were all feeling tired and a bit frustrated after almost four hours of misleading clues and cold trails, but Clover was usually the one that the irritation popped up in first. Samantha chuckled again and looked down at their readout. According to popular time theory, the highest natural point anywhere in the world was the most natural spot to pick, because in the past it would be used as a defensive position for battle guards and feudal kingdoms, and in the future, because of the rising level of the oceans, would be an excellent place for weather stations or cities.

Though why they were at one of the most famous canyons in the world was a bit beyond her. She guessed it to be a last ditch effort to find Professor Allan. She raised her head and squinted into the wide canyon that rode downwards before her. There was nothing that her human eye could see. She looked up at her friends. Clover was busy guzzling water and Alex was checking out the scene below with her Zoom-In shades. All was quiet.

_BOOM!_

The explosion thundered first through their ears before passing underground, knocking them all off their feet. It was silent again, except for the few rocks that tumbled down cliff-faces. All Sam could see around her was a thick cloud of dust that hung over them without a hint of dissipating. She heard Clover's groaning and Alex coughing in the distance.

"You guys okay?" she called out. Alex coughed again in reply.

"Just great, thanks. Another one like that would really be cool," Clover said with sarcasm.

"What _was _that?" Alex asked. Sam fumbled in her backpack, feeling around for her Hairdryer Duplex.

"Dunno, but I bet it leads us to the bad guy," she said as she pulled it out. Setting it to maximum she blew the thick dust-cloud away, uncovering a very irritated Clover already climbing into the canyon.

"Are you guys coming or not?" she yelled up at them. Sam rolled her eyes as she helped Alex to her feet. There was no use in trying to catch up to Clover just yet. They both knew that already from earlier experience, so they took their time, albeit hasty, climbing down the ropes. Sam appreciated Clover's high detective sense. She was already following the direction from which the explosion had come from, lower in the canyon than Sam had thought.

About ten minutes later, Sam found herself trailing after Alex through a small fissure that was almost hidden behind solidified rubble. As she walked through, she couldn't help but gasp out loud. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Light somehow filtered through the entire cave, reflecting off the lake's ripples, scattering rays of liquid light onto the sandstone walls. The air shimmered with lit dust particles, golden and cool. The lake itself was a dark pool, gently lapping at the edge of the cave floor; sometimes it was dark and forbidding and, where the light shone, milky and calm. It stretched as far as she could see. Haphazardly stacked and hung from the ceiling, stalagmites and stalactites were also lit from some unseen source of sunlight. They glittered like rugged diamonds, covered with crystals and dampness. There was no sign of any plant-life, which added to the unreality of the cave. She shook her head to break away from the daze she was in.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Clover's voice called from further on, echoing along a thin horizontal stalagmite bridge that stretched across the lake, high above the water. Alex glanced back at Sam before she began to follow. She then nimbly marched over the bridge, pausing once when the there was a slight tremor that rumbled through the cave, rippling across the lake's surface and causing small pockets of dust to fall down from the ceiling. She stepped onto solid land hidden in the dark and took out her flashlight to shine across the ceiling and the falling dust.

Sam thought good of the idea and took hers out too, shining it along the path of the bridge. She stopped for a moment and peered over the edge: it was a long way down, suddenly. She felt dizzy and snapped her gaze back to the bridge's path. She started to walk again, a little more slowly, when a loud explosion bombarded the cave. The waves of explosive power roared through the ceiling and floor; Sam watched in horror as cracks ran through the bridge in hyper speed, and then stopped for a second. "Sam!" Alex yelled out, but by then the floor had collapsed underneath Sam and she fell into the lake with the remains of the bridge. She went under, rocks crashing on top and around her. She swam from side to side, avoiding the falling debris for the moment, but unable to surface. A large boulder unexpectedly smashed into the lake, landing on her shoulder and she felt a penetrating crack go along her arm and to her neck. She screamed uncontrollably in pain, water rushing into her mouth, snatching away needed breathe. She felt a shock in the water and looking up saw what appeared to be the whole ceiling collapsing into the water, pushing her deeper and deeper under. She tried to avoid the descending rock but couldn't with her broken shoulder. All she could do was panic inside as she began to lose consciousness, as her vision turned to black, as the pressure of rocks turning and tumbling increased, as she felt herself sinking. It was an endless plummeting into certain death. She had one last surge of energy that flashed white across her line of vision, making her blind to her direction, and kicked out with her legs…

* * *

…and found herself falling out of a bed, tangled in sheets. Terror-ridden still from her near-drowning, she began to lose control as they wrapped round her like a cocoon and she struggled to unravel herself. All of a sudden, another pair of hands were pulling at the sheets and soon she found herself suddenly exposed to the air, facing a girl in her mid-twenties with long brunette hair reaching past her shirted chest, mussed from sleep. Sam felt the chill air against her bare skin and suddenly she realized she was naked. She grabbed at the sheet and wrapped it around her body, struggling for some reason, still keeping an eye on the strange girl. The girl's steel-grey eyes were filled with worry. Sam stood up, slightly wobbly on her legs. 

"Sam? What's wrong?" she asked from the bed. That's when Sam recognized who she was. She looked around in rising fear for a mirror and spotted one in the far corner. She rushed over to it and her mouth fell open in shock as she stared at her reflection.

She was older. Her hair wasn't midway to her back anymore; instead it was to her shoulders in ragtag layers. Her face was more mature: it was leaner and looked as if it had seen too much. Across her right shoulder was a thick jagged scar: it stretched from the hollow at her neck diagonally up to the top of her shoulder and then running along the apex before dipping from the edge to halfway on top of her breast. She flushed as she looked down at her chest: she had undergone a late growth spurt as was famous in her family. She slowly turned around and looked at the girl watching her from the queen-size bed. She swallowed hard.

"Danny? What year is it?" Danny looked at her strangely but answered.

"2011," she said carefully. Sam felt tears began to build in the corner of her eyes. Danny saw this and rushed out of the bed to gather Sam in her arms, who stood too stunned to move; and then she could do nothing but gasp in shock, stumbling backwards out of her grip, breaking out of her daze. She slipped on the edge of the sheet and felt her back hit the wall, legs finally failing her, falling to a seated position on the floor. Danny crouched down in front of her, reaching a hand out to touch Sam's wet cheek. Sam turned away, eyes squeezed shut, but still felt Danny's hand stroke her cheek. It left and she felt suddenly cold without that presence. She then felt Danny's hands cupping her face, pulling her gently to one side; she opened her eyes and found herself facing the girl's face filled with concern and love, directed at her. Without a pause, just a fluid motion, her mouth was on top of Sam's, her tongue caressing hers. Sam responded without thinking and was engulfed in the heat of the kiss…

**To Be Continued…**


	2. Escape isn't Possible

Buckle of Time

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Summary

Sam is thrust into the year 2011 after she makes a decision that results in her last mission at WOOHP. Sam has to figure out how things have changed so drastically and set them right. But is it all that bad, really?

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own!

* * *

Author's note: thanks to Saint Raven for 'viewing the surnames!

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Chapter 2: Escape isn't Possible…

**09:46AM, 2011, DANNY & SAM'S APARTMENT**

The trauma of the drowning, without warning, shattered along Sam's nerves. She broke contact from Danny, at the same time pushing her away with unreserved strength. She struggled to stand, feebly gaining gravity, subsequently running through an open door and locking it behind her. She leaned against it, breathing heavily. _Please god, let this just be a dream,_ she thought tearfully, the so-mentioned droplets of liquid running down her cheeks. Still crying softly, she turned round slowly, finally seeing her surroundings as that of a tiled bathroom. She found the mirror and walked over to it, her tread like broken glass. Opening the top of the sheet, she nervously touched the scar, almost losing her nerve. She felt the raised ridge, tracing along the skin. The memory of the falling boulder flashed across her inner mind's eye. She shuddered, snatching her hand away from her skin. _This can't be real…_she said to herself as she continued to stare at her reflection.

"What happened…to me?" she asked out loud. Danny's voice broke through the silence. Sam realized that she hadn't even knocked. A wave of warmth filled her abdomen then vanished as she thought of her. Sam didn't understand it.

* * *

"Sam? Please come out." She paused. "Please Sam?" she pleaded, her palm spread across the shut door as she leaned against it. There was no answer from inside and Danny felt the underlying panic threatening to rise. She stifled it and called out again. "Sammy? Please, I can't help you if you don't let me in, or at least come out?" Danny wondered why she didn't just twist the doorknob and go in, it was unlocked after all: she had broken it when she had one of _those_ phone-calls. Maybe it was because she knew that was a boundary she and Sam shared. Or maybe… _or maybe it was because when I helped untangle her, that look…that look of total oblivion shining so plainly in her eyes when she saw me._

There was a brief rustle from inside. She froze. She felt the doorknob twist against her side and backed away hastily as Sam crept out. She was biting her lower lip, trembling in the sheet. Danny didn't approach; worry had cautioned her to not make a move. Sam took a step closer, her head bowed as she peered under her lashes. She mumbled something which Danny couldn't hear at all. She moved closer, still not reaching out a hand to trace her pale cheek in comfort. All set ways had been voided with that blankness…

"Where…can you show me where my clothes…are, please?" she asked softly. Danny felt like screaming. Why didn't Sam know, why was their love missing from her eyes? With leaden limbs she walked over to their closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, underwear and a long-sleeved white shirt. As she handed them to her, Sam looked at her quizzically. Danny quickly turned away with watering eyes before answering.

"Our clothes are packed together; I don't think you would've been able to pick out your own," she said before hurrying out of their bedroom, tears streaming down her cheeks. The door slammed shut behind her, a harsh empty sound in her ears. She rushed into her art room and collapsed into the sofa, crying heaving and soundless sobs into the fabric.

* * *

**10:15AM, 2011, DANNY & SAM'S APARTMENT**

Her hair still damp from the shower she had fumbled in, she explored the bedroom slowly, touching, looking, smelling: a stranger to this world. Guilt from taking so long, and Danny's running from the room made her cold and she felt alone as she looked around. There were so many things in the room that tugged at her memory; it frustrated her that she couldn't remember what the hell they meant. The one item that had startled her most was the framed photo on the left side of the bed. In it, she and Danny were in unfamiliar graduation robes, hidden in the dark of a stairway, kissing without abandon. A memory shook her as it raced passed her eyes: _…father threatened the man who had taken it…you and I watched as the film burned…there was a small fire where the photographer worked, nothing seemingly destroyed…_ Her breath whooshed out of her as she sat heavily on the bed, gripping the under-sheet near her thighs.

She shook her head, eyes scrunched up, getting rid of the dizziness that had followed. It left quickly, leaving her to open her eyes to a strange and familiar world. She inhaled deeply and pushed herself off the bed. Her hand snagged on something under the pillow as she stood and it came away with a necklace. Curious, she turned the larger oval pendant round. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized it was the exact same pendant Danny had been wearing when she had first met her that day, the one with the unfamiliar character. And on the other, smaller pendant were carved three words on one side: _My Protection Tied._ Feeling the unevenness on the other side, she turned that over and read: _Daniella.

* * *

_

When Sam eventually found Danny, she entered a world she had never ventured in. a plain white door opened into an art studio, a huge painted canvas collapsed into a box. There was paint splatters everywhere, canvass stacked high in a wall-length shelf with a ladder leaning on it…and Danny seated in front of a blank canvas that was three metres in length and two in width. Steam rose from a cup in her hand.

Sam approached, cautious as a kitten, and seated herself an arm's-length away from Danny. She fiddled with her hair, a nervous habit she thought she had out grown. She stroked the strands expecting length and shocked herself when it ended way before where she had thought it was. She felt a small ocean form at the corner of her eyes, a crinkle between her eyes forming in companion. She bit her tongue and shoved her hands under her thighs. She tried to gain control but she couldn't, it was too complex a task. Within a few seconds, she began crying quietly, shuddering, gasping for breath; her back bowed till her hair was touching her ankles, the tears splattering on the ends of her pant legs.

Danny said nothing. What she did was a little more surprising and it broke Sam out of her funk completely. The cup she was holding had been shaking in her tightening grip; instead of placing it on the ground, Danny had a moment of stillness. And then slowly, so slowly that Sam heard only the completion of the hiss, she had poured the entire cup of scalding liquid over her right hand.

Sam gasped, tears forgotten. Danny turned to her, her own eyes glassy with tears.

"It doesn't hurt as much as it looks. Promise," she whispered through gritted teeth. Sam continued to stare at her, completely frozen with shock. Danny's pupils remained as pin-pricks, an emotion welling within her against the wall of truth she now knew. Sam's inactiveness told her all she needed to know then and she felt a single droplet of water drift down her cheek.

"You're not my Sam. She would have slapped me right-about now. _Who are you?_" she cried out in anguish. She raised her hands to her face and knuckled her eyes to stop the flow. She pressed the edge of her palms tightly into the sockets, harder and harder. _This can't be happening, she promised me!_ Hands were abruptly gripping her own, pulling at her fingers. They were wrenched free, Sam pinning her hands to the floor. Danny turned her face away, keeping her eyes shut. She refused to acknowledge the void.

"Please." Sam whispered. Danny squeezed her eyelids tighter together.

"Please, La. I need you now." Danny gulped back a sob, her throat tight as a drum. Sam embraced her, fingertips digging into her shoulders. Her face was pressed into her shirt, her mouth muffled by the cotton. She felt the first moan rather than heard it and soon she was howling, her sobs harsh to her ears. Fingers dug deeper into her skin. She felt herself snap and her wail turned into a scream; startling Sam, she shoved her away.

"How can you say that when you're not her?!" she said hysterically. Waves of panic were hitting her solidly in her head, she couldn't concentrate on anything. Her hands pushed at her eye-sockets, red noise flooding her ears and eyes. She didn't even know she was screaming.

"Danny, stop it! I said, STOP!" Sam shouted at her, right in her ear. The spell was broken. Danny felt it physically. She couldn't explain it. But Sam was the only one who could do it.

"You didn't take your medication, did you?" Sam asked. Danny immediately grabbed her arm.

"How do you know that?" she hissed, sounding her words through her teeth with her fear. Sam looked at her, her eyes dazed.

"I don't know. It just came out. Danny, I …don't know, it's like something's forcing it on me." They stared into each-other's eyes for a long second, then Danny let go of Sam's arm. She sighed.

"I think I need to show you something."

* * *

Shaking them into her palm, she counted the red and blue pills before swallowing them dry. Sam winced. Danny pretended to not notice. She then pulled a thin hardcover book from the lower cabinet of the bookshelf. She placed it in her lap before pulling out another one. She handed the first one to Sam. It was a dark blue yearbook. With a bolt of surprise, Sam recognised the large crest on the front. It was NYC Gifted High. Long, thin letters spelt the name under a circular shield divided in three: one triangle held a picture of a tower, the other two the Southern Cross constellation and the back of a dark bird in flight. Flanking the shield was a sabre and a quill. On the top of the shield was a lounging striped feline.

It was marked 2002. She looked up at Danny but she looked back at her impassively. She opened it slowly, a ghost of the framed photograph crossing her mind.

And as she opened it, the binding of the book forced the pages to rest on one particular page.

_Joint Valedictorian: Daniella R. Allan & Samantha Simpson_

To be continued…

Right, okay, we've established Danny as a medicated hysteric, and what else? Riiiiggggghhhhhtttttt, that this story has lost its footing but is still being continued.


	3. It's All In The Past

Buckle of Time

* * *

Summary

Sam is thrust into the year 2011 after she makes a decision that results in her last mission at WOOHP. Sam has to figure out how things have changed so drastically and set them right. But is it all that bad, really?

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own!

Author's Note: it's been a very, very long time since this was first uploaded. And I know that sorry won't cut it. But would you believe me if I said that I grew up, or at least older, and I couldn't seem to find the corner that this story sprung from, and that's the reason why I haven't updated? I'll try, but this story might take on a different flavour than before.

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Chapter 3: It's In The Past

The earth tilted. She felt herself being propped up by hands holding her upper arms.

"I don't remember any of this," she gasped, her whole body suddenly weak. "I don't know this life, Danny… " she brought her hands to her face, covering her mouth. "nothing's familiar. This… why did this happen?" she sobbed. Danny let go of her arms and she remained upright. There was silence from the other girl. And then-

"what's the last thing you remember?" she asked softly. Sam felt her breath stop for an instant. Could she tell Danny? did she already know about her being a spy? What if this was just a really vivid hallucination? She shook her head at that, it was too ridiculous. And Danny seemed to be the only one she could trust.

"I was in a cave, crossing this rock bridge… There was an earthquake, and I fell into this lake, and… the ceiling caved in. my shoulder was hit… I remember trying to swim to the surface, and then… I was here." she looked up at Danny. she had a thoughtful look on her face.

"yeah, you were absent for a week, and then my dad transferred me to GH right after that, and I met up with you, and… " she stroked the cover of the other book absently.

"what was I like?" the question burst from Sam's mouth. Why did she ask that? Maybe there was a clue in this past. Maybe that's what her brain was trying to tell her…

"fun. Carefree. A complete opposite to the person I was told about at Beverly Hills High. actually," she hesitated, gripping the edge of the book tightly. "Sam, I just realised something weird."

"what?" Sam asked, eager for something to clue her in.

"you found me."

* * *

"what?" she said weakly.

"you came and found me, the day I transferred. You were outside the main office, just leaning against the wall with your arm in a sling. I hadn't even gone to my first homeroom. You said-"

" 'bout time' ", it popped out from Sam's mouth. Danny's eyebrows crinkled together.

"okay, I wasn't expecting that."

"so, I was waiting for you? why can't I remember that?" she didn't feel hysterical any more. She was in her information collecting mode. It felt _rusty_. Danny pushed the other book into her hands.

"see if this sparks anything. I'm going to get your laptop." She stood up, and then bent down to Sam, her hair hanging around her face. "are you okay in here?"

"why do you ask?" Danny hesitated again.

"you were never comfortable in my room. You couldn't tell me why." Sam touched the cover of the thick book.

"I think I'll be fine until you get back." She looked down at the book as Danny left her studio. _Why am I okay with this? I don't get why the majority of my head says it's fine _not _knowing, as long as I'm here. _she traced the edge of the book with her fingertips, and then lifted the cover. the first page opened to photographs. She flipped through the book and saw they were all photos, each page with three.

She went back to the first page, and the first was of her, probably just after she had met Danny. she was sticking her tongue out at the camera, her arm and shoulder tightly wrapped up and in a sling. She looked so pale, sitting on the bench that surrounded a circular garden. _And that's not me._ This person was a total stranger to her. she looked at the next few pages: looked at experimental shots where the angles, focus and colour were played around with; at faces she didn't know; places she'd never seen. There were photos of her with her parents, and Danny with them; on holidays and at restaurants. Somehow, Sam got the feeling that this wasn't all of them, just the most precious to Danny.

But she was scarce in these. And Sam couldn't seem to find any of her family, especially not of her dad who threatened a photographer because of an innocent snapshot.

And then there was one. Out of place amongst all of Danny's, because it was of her, and she was asleep. Sam blushed. She was barely covered by a sheet, the only thing she had on was her ankh. Half on her back, her legs were curled to the left, her head resting on her right arm, also facing left. Her hair was splayed over her shoulder and face, longer than it was now. but her left hand was stretched out to the other side, fingers curled inwards. _Where I sleep._

What was the point of remembering if this was going to be taken away?

* * *

"I'm back!" Danny said in a cheery tone, but her grin quickly disappeared when she saw the wet trails down Sam's cheeks. "Sam? What's wrong?" Sam wiped her eyes hurriedly with her sleeve, shaking her head.

"nothing, nothing. I'm fine," she said with a cracked voice. Danny put the laptop on the couch and came over to Sam, sitting close enough that their knees almost touched.

"what's wrong?" she repeated. She looked down at the album, and then back at Sam. "are these upsetting you? can't you remember?" Sam shook her head.

"it's not that." She took a deep breath. "I…I have this feeling that… if I try to remember, this will all… disappear," she blurted out, the tears starting again. She lowered her head; she didn't want Danny to see. Danny's fingers twined with hers, startling, but also comforting, her. she felt calmer with the small touch.

"but you have to, right? You have to know what's happened to you, and why. and Sam," she said quietly, squeezing her hand, "I'll help you." Sam looked up at her, her stomach churning with beginning fear.

"but what if all this is shattered? what if my questions take all this away? What will we do then?" she asked tearfully.

"we'll figure that out when we get there." She smiled at Sam, squeezing her hand again. "I'm going to clean up my mess, you can search your laptop for clues." She stood and pulled Sam up with her, pulling her to the couch. she left the room again, leaving Sam to figure out her laptop.

Sam squeezed her eyes shut. _Calm down Samantha. We have to be rational now, not emotional, 'kay? _She exhaled loudly. _Alright. _She pulled the laptop towards her and flipped it open. The blinker flashed behind the password label.

"Danny?" she called out, slightly panicked.

"yeah?"

"what's my password?" and then it happened again, like some alien force shoving the answer into her brain. "never mind."

**R-i-n-a-L-a** she typed and then clicked on **ENTER**. If it happened again… the one theory that came to mind was that she somehow had temporary amnesia, because why would the memories keep coming 'back'? If she had been displaced here, she wouldn't have any idea of the past, that would be a complete blank to her. but if the displacement theory were true, how did she age?

She looked over to the yearbook, an uneasy feeling starting in the pit of her stomach. She grabbed it off the floor, and opened it to the page that had shocked her system.

_Allan._ The surnames were the same. Their hair was the same shade. And, remembering back… they had the same glare.

"oh god…" she whispered. Frederick Allan was Danny's father. was Danny involved? She slumped back into the couch. What was she supposed to do now? she ran her fingers through her hair. She had no-one she could trust- _Clover. Alex. Jerry. _She started searching the desktop. _Please, please let there be an address book._

To be continued…

* * *

I guess that ending can't make up for how many years of not writing, sigh, I'm sorry. We'll see how it goes. 


End file.
